Fr. George Rutler: The Secularist Response to Islam

Father George William Rutler, was an Episcopal priest for nine years before being received into the Catholic Church in 1979.  He writes often for Crisis magazine, and back in October 2014 wrote an essay entitled: Mad Intelligence: The Secularist Response to Islam. In that essay, Fr. Rutler called out the Secularists (including those in high places, elites, and even naive religious leaders) who refuse to call evil by its name.  It will be left to the informed reader to determine who among those in high places, which elites, and which naive religious leaders Fr. Rutler had in mind when composing his essay.  Today's quote may help point the reader in the right direction.

Here's the quote:

Secularists play down Islamist atrocities because they seek to eradicate the graceful moral structure that can turn brutes into saints.  Heinous acts are sometimes dismissed as “workplace violence.”  There even are those in high places who pretend that Islamic militants are not Islamic and foster the delusion that false gods will not demand sacrifices on their altars.  These elites are like Ambassador Davies who said, “Communism holds no serious threat to the United States.”  Naïve religious leaders who live off the goodwill of good people, will even say that Christians and those who oppose them share a common humane ethos, a similar concept of human rights, an embrace of pluralism, and a distinction between political and spiritual realms.  

Words of Relevance: St. Thomas Aquinas, Angelic Doctor

St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), one of the most important figures in Roman Catholicism, is honored today by the Catholic Church: it's his Feast Day.

Many books have been written about him, and the many books authored by him have been analyzed and dissected by the greatest minds in and out of the Church.  To select a single quote of his would be unfair to the many famous quotes attributed to him, so herewith a number of my favorites:

Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good attained by man's own will.

Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire; and to know what he ought to do.

Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious.

There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.

To love is to will the good of another.

Needed: A New Church Policy toward Islam [Pt. 1] - Crisis Magazine

Egyptian President el-Sisi lectures Muslim clerics and scholars on the need to revolutionize Islam - not the religion, but the ideology.

Needed: A New Church Policy toward Islam [Pt. 1] - Crisis Magazine

Video of the speech by el-Sisi is at the end of the article.

Words of Relevance: Robert Royal: Abortion And Magical Thinking

The March for Life is held in Washington D. C. in January every year, and today marks the 42nd year in a row for this all-but-ignored event in the eyes of the main stream media.

Robert Royal, editor-in-chief of The Catholic Thing is there today, and wrote today's essay on the Magical Thinking of Abortion:

"In two and a half days, we kill more babies than American troops have died over the years in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Kill. Let’s speak bluntly and truthfully. What dies is alive, has human DNA, and is deliberately eliminated."

He points out just how much the abortion industry has perverted language and understanding to keep their industry functioning in spite of the ever increasing opposition  from people no longer willing to be manipulated into accepting evil.  He leaves us with a powerful quote that is difficult to dispute.

Here's the quote:

Punch a woman in the stomach, and you may get punished depending on circumstances and what jurisdiction you live in. Punch a woman in the stomach who’s pregnant and cause an unwanted miscarriage, prepare yourself for manslaughter charges and an expensive civil action.

But if a doctor working for Planned Parenthood essentially does the same thing, by some form of magical thinking, the same human entity may be disposed of under the category of “women’s health.” It becomes a “product of conception” or “unwanted pregnancy,” which – as Pope Francis has emphasized – may be discarded at whim in our throwaway culture.

   

St Peter Catholic Church - Restoring the Sacred in Omaha

"A Building that Speaks of God" - New Seminary Project

Vittorio Messori: The Real Root of Extremism

Vittorio Messori, the "most translated Catholic writer in the world," published an essay this week on the Rorate Caeli site, entitled: The Real Root of Extremism.

Messori discusses a newspaper article by "Rabbi Giuseppe Laras (renowned in Italian Judaism not only for his culture but also for his religious sensitivity)," who thinks we are now in engaged in a fourth world war.  According to Laras: The hypocrisy of the dominant ideology today - political correctness – has been attempting exorcisms and in order to tranquilize us they have built an ideal of “moderate Islamism” encouragingly increasing it by repeating the mantra of “dialogue”. Nevertheless, those who know the Koran, those who know history and the society that has given it form over a thousand and a half years, know that those Muslims we call “extremists” (to use our Western categories) are not wrong in shouting (Kalashnikov in hand) that a “moderate” Muslim is a bad Muslim.

Messori then goes on to relate the following story: A French friend, a Catholic religious in Jerusalem and well-known biblical scholar, told me recently that in their convent, there was an old Muslim who had worked for them for a long, long time as a factotum. Honest, trustworthy and a hard worker, he had become part of the family and all the religious had great affection for him which was sincerely reciprocal. One Friday, the man came back from the mosque with a dejected air about him. The Superior of the House, after insisting, was finally able to make him talk. He said: “Today the Imam who conducts the prayers told us during the sermon that, on the day of the triumph of Allah and his Prophet, which will arrive soon, we will then rid this Holy City of Jews and Christians, and all of those infidels who don’t make a profession of faith at once will have to be killed. This is what the Koran wills and we are bound to obey it.”

The French priest friend of Messori, paused after reaching that point in his story, then added the final words of the old Muslim employee of the convent, which will serve as the quote for today.

Here's the quote:

“But have no fear Father, you know that I love all of you. I know what to do if I have to kill you, I’ll find the way not to make you suffer.”

Words of Relevance: Anthony Esolen on Honoring our Forefathers

(Photo from the Catholic Artist Society): http://www.catholicartistssociety.org/art-and-the-glorious-liberty-of-the-children-of-god-an-evening-with-anthony-esolen-full-audio/

Anthony Esolen, whose writing has been featured here before wrote another outstanding and relevant essay today on The Catholic Thing Blog, entitled: Disowning the Father.

Professor Esolen tells the story of "Captain Robert Shaw, who had trained and led the Massachusetts 54th, one of the first colored regiments in the Civil War," and of the bronze memorial in his honor sculpted by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.

He speaks of how things were in days past (and how they should be today): "Healthy people honor their forefathers. It’s a natural thing. They forgive their failings, and remember and honor their virtues."

Unfortunately, too many people feel differently today.  Esolen laments that fact in today's quote from his essay.

Here's the quote:

We are the only people I know who do the opposite. We scorn our forefathers. We forget or deny their virtues, and magnify their failings. We delight in thinking worse of them than they deserve.

Finally, here's the monument to Captain Robert Shaw:

Words of Relevance: Michael Keaton's Golden Globe Speech

Michael Keaton won the Golden Globe Award for his role in the film Birdman a couple nights ago, and gave an acceptance speech that was to say the least atypical for a hollywood star.  Think what you will of the film itself (or Michael Keaton), this acceptance speech certainly deserves a wide audience.  Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxbLh1VQzfU

Words of Relevance: Turkish President Erdogan Defines Islam

That's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, president of Turkey, with his friend Barack Hussein Obama. It's a sure bet that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of The Republic of Turkey in October 1923, is spinning in his grave as Erdogan dismantles his creation.  

Erdogan's policies leave no doubt that he has abandoned the idea of the secular republic of Ataturk, and would like very much to return to something more like the absolute monarchy of the Ottaman Empire.  

That, fortunately, not being a possibility, he has done all he can to return Islam to its proper place (in his mind) throughout Turkey.  At least he has no qualms about providing the rest of us with a clear understanding of the "religion of peace" as it has been described by our last two presidents.  Who better to define Islam than Erdogan himself, and he does so in today's quote.

Here's the quote: 

"...descriptions (of moderate vs immoderate Islam) are very ugly, it is offensive and an insult to our religion. There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that’s it.”

Finally, here's an earlier post, from September 2010, with an interesting video about the "religion of peace."

http://wwwpopblogger.blogspot.com/2010/09/religion-of-peace.html

Words of Relevance: Wise Old Man to Young College Grads

The most important ingredient in the archetypal "wise old man" is "old."  The older one gets, the more likely he is to be dismissed by those much younger as being out of touch, or worse, a has-been, or worse yet, a never-was.  A little known quote from the "wise old man" which should be emblazoned on the back of every college diploma would be helpful in the education of the younger generation: those who despite any real experience see themselves as "special."

Here's the quote:

One of the pleasant surprises on growing old is the realization of how little you knew back when you thought you knew everything. 

Words of Relevance: G.K. Chesterton on the Object of a New Year

G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936),  considered by many the greatest writer of the 20th century (because he was the greatest thinker of the 20th century), never went to college; he went to art school.  He argued against all the evils of his time, especially materialism and moral relativism, and argued for common sense, beauty, Christianity and the Catholic Faith.  Many agree that “you cannot consider yourself educated until you have thoroughly read Chesterton.”

He is perhaps the most quoted of the 20th century writers, and today's quote is as timely as it is relevant.

Here's the quote:

“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective.”

Words of Relevance: Moses: on Choosing Life

Moses, considered by many to be the author of the first five books of the Bible (the Torah), led the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land, which he never entered.  Along the way, which lasted, according to Biblical accounts, forty years, he parted the Red Sea and received the Ten Commandments on Mt Sinai.  He was also a great prophet and left us with many interesting and relevant quotes, including today's.

Here's the quote:

I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and cleaving to him; for that means life to you.

(Deut 30:19-20)

Words of Relevance: Hannah Arendt on Public Opinion

Hannah Arendt, one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century wrote many famous books.  Among them: The Origins of Totalitarianism, On Revolution, The Human Condition, and Eichmann in Jerusalem in which she coined the phrase: The Banality of Evil.

In On Revolution she compared and contrasted the American and French revolutions.  She called the French revolution a disaster; the American revolution, a success.  She posited the French turned from their original goal of freedom and instead concentrated on "compassion for the masses."  Today's quote is from that work, and its relevance to today should be easily discernible to the reader.

Here's the quote:

Since no one is capable of forming his own opinion without the benefit of a multitude of opinions held by others, the rule of public opinion endangers even the opinion of those few who may have the strength not to share it. ... This is the reason why the Founding Fathers [of the United States] tended to equate rule based on public opinion with tyranny; democracy in this sense was to them but a newfangled form of despotism...

Words of Relevance: Daniel Henninger on Mobs

That's Daniel Henninger, deputy editorial page director of The Wall Street Journal, who today surely encapsulated the thoughts of millions of law abiding citizens in the opening sentences of his regular weekly column entitled today: Mobs of New York.  Everything Henninger writes is relevant, but today's quote is perhaps the most succinctly relevant thing yet said on this topic.

Here's the quote:

How did we get to the point in the United States where street protesters are treated as saintly figures?  How did it happen that important public leaders - the American president, the mayor of New York, college presidents - feel obliged to legitimize these protests, no matter what they do to a city, its citizens or owners of private property?  Why is it that the leaders of America's most important institutions are no longer capable of recognizing a mob when they see one?

There is, of course, an obvious answer.  It concerns the "leaders" mentioned above and it comes from the infamous Butch Cassidy: Who are those guys? and, more importantly, who voted for them?

Words of Relevance: Irving Berlin: God Bless America

Irving Berlin (1888-1989), about whom George Gershwin is quoted as saying:

"I want to say at once that I frankly believe that Irving Berlin is the greatest songwriter that has ever lived.... His songs are exquisite cameos of perfection, and each one of them is as beautiful as its neighbor. Irving Berlin remains, I think, America's Schubert. But apart from his genuine talent for song-writing, Irving Berlin has had a greater influence upon American music than any other one man. It was Irving Berlin who was the very first to have created a real, inherent American music…." 

He gave us such memorable musical hits as: "White Christmas," "Puttin on the Ritz," "How Deep is the Ocean," "Say it with Music," "Always," and so many others. 

He is probably remembered most fondly for his "God Bless America,"
written in 1918 and revised by him in 1938.  The opening lyrics of that great song make up today's quote, and one has to wonder whether the speech police would permit the public singing of such "controversial" lyrics today given the mention of prayer and God.


Here's the quote:

While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free. Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
 As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.
God bless America, Land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her Through the night with a light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, To the oceans, white with foam, God bless America, my home sweet home. 

Words of Relevance: Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Te Deum in D

This arrangement of Te Deum by the French composer,   Marc-Antoine Charpentier, is a perfect way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.

Thanks to Rorate Caeli for posting.

Words of Relevance: Edward C. Banfield and the Ferguson Riots

Edward C. Banfield (1916-1999), one of the leading political scientists of his time is quoted in the Wall Street Journal today.  The quote is from his great book: The Unheavenly City, which was published in 1970.  His words are relevant today in view of what has happened the last few days in Ferguson, Missouri.  The quote, which is a little lengthy but well worth reading, appeared in the Notable & Quotable section of today's paper.

Here's the quote:

The rioters knew they had little or nothing to fear from the police and the courts. Under the pressure of the civil rights movement and of court decisions and as the result of the growing ‘professionalism’ of police administrators . . . the patrolman’s discretion in the use of force declined rapidly after the war. At the same time courts were lenient with juvenile offenders. ‘Tough kids’ had always attacked policemen when they got the chance, but by the 1960’s the amount of toughness required was not very great, for in most cities it became more and more apparent that a policeman who shot a boy would be in serious trouble. Not being able to use force, the police could not effectively use the threat of it. It was not uncommon for a gang of boys to disarm and beat a policeman who, following orders, would not use his gun against them. During a riot, the police were especially ineffective—because their offenses were not very serious, most rioters could not be successfully threatened; the only thing that could be done with them was to take them into custody, and this was something the police were seldom numerous enough to do. Sometimes the police had to stand by and allow looting to go on before their eyes. This, of course, increased the tempo of the rioting.

Words of Relevance: Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks on Marriage

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom, gave perhaps the most inspiring speech this past Monday at the Humanum colloquium on complementarity in Rome.  The colloquium was a "three-day gathering of scholars and religious leaders from numerous countries and faiths" focusing on the theme “The Complementarity of Man and Woman.” It was sponsored by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The colloquium concentrated on marriage between one man and one woman, and so was, and will be, excoriated by the sodomite lobby.  Without addressing that lobby or what it stands for, Rabbi Sacks spoke eloquently about "what he calls the “seven key moments, each of them surprising and unexpected” by which we can track the development of the institution of marriage."  (quotes are from Catherine Harmon at CWR)

The full text of his speech, as posted by Austen Ivereigh in Rome, can be found HERE.

The full text is something to be read when time permits, but in the meantime one particular quotes stands out.

Here's the quote:

[Our] compassion for those who choose to live differently should not inhibit us from being advocates for the single most humanising institution in history. The family, man, woman, and child, is not one lifestyle choice among many. It is the best means we have yet discovered for nurturing future generations and enabling children to grow in a matrix of stability and love.

Peggy Noonan: Obama & Mealy-Mouthed Filibustering

Peggy Noonan, who has occasionally worked both sides of the street since her days as a Reagan speechwriter, perfectly captured the essence of Barack Obama in a piece she wrote recently for the Wall Street Journal.  The piece was entitled "The Loneliest President Since Nixon," and today's quote, taken from it, will raise a chuckle in the mind of anyone who has been paying attention to the president during his not perfectly scripted interviews.

Noonan writes: I mentioned last week that the president has taken to filibustering, to long, rambling answers in planned sit-down settings—no questions on the fly walking from here to there, as other presidents have always faced. The press generally allows him to ramble on, rarely fighting back as they did with Nixon. But I have noticed Mr. Obama uses a lot of words as padding. He always has, but now he does it more. There’s a sense of indirection and obfuscation. You can say, “I love you,” or you can say, (and here's the quote)

“You know, feelings will develop, that happens among humans and it’s good it happens, and I have always said, and I said it again just last week, that you are a good friend, I care about you, and it’s fair to say in terms of emotional responses that mine has escalated or increased somewhat, and ‘love’ would not be a wholly inappropriate word to use to describe where I’m coming from.”